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PUC Holds Final Hearing in its Retail Electricity Markets Investigation

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The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has been taking a closer look at the retail electricity market to learn why more customers are not shopping.   Most stay with their default electricity suppliers. The last in a series of en banc hearings was held recently.

Only about a third of the state’s 5 million electric customers have actually switched suppliers since they’ve been given a choice.  Fewer than half have actually shopped around.

Commissioner James Cawley says some common misconceptions may be to blame, including misplaced customer loyalty to the default suppler and concerns about what happens when the power goes out.

Cawley says the utility that runs the wires into your property doesn’t make any money on the electricity.  They have to pass the cost along dollar for dollar, so they don’t care if you switch.  He says they will not punish you if the power goes out because you switched to an alternate supplier.  He says they’re regulated by the PUC to be distribution companies.

Cawley says the PUC is looking at a number of options to encourage people to shop for the best deal, including expanded education, opt-in and customer referral programs. 

A final report is due to the commission by the end of next month.  Once the report is received, the PUC will consider if any changes are needed in the law or in regulations.   There will be ample opportunities for public comment.  People can learn more about shopping for electricity at www.PAPowerSwitch.com

Environmental Group Puts PA Near Top of “Toxic 20”

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Pennsylvania is second to only Ohio in the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study, which ranks the worst states for air pollution from power plants.  “Nearly half of all the toxic air pollution reported from industrial sources, in the United States, comes from oil and coal-fired power plants,” says Dan Lashof, the NRDC’s climate center director. 

The study takes aim at coal power in particular, but president of the Pennsylvania Coal Association George Ellis calls it political rhetoric.  “I think they’re grossly misleading the public with this information.  I think it’s a scare tactic, and it’s certainly unfounded,” says Ellis, who contends that coal is burning cleaner today than it ever has before.  Ellis calls coal the most reliable and affordable source of electricity.

Public input is still being accepted on the Environmental Protection Agency’s planned Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which the Natural Resources Defense Council strongly endorses.  “The EPA estimates that the reduction of toxic pollution required by the pending Mercury and Air Toxics Standards would save as many as 17,000 lives every year by 2015,” Lashof emphasized in a conference call with reporters. 

But George Ellis with the Pennsylvania Coal Association believes the standards would go too far.  “What you’re going to see is the premature retirement of electric generation plants, because it would be too costly for utilities to comply with these regulations.”  Over half of PA’s power comes from coal, and Ellis fears lost jobs and higher electric bills if the new regulations are implemented as planned.

Both Lashof and Ellis will be watching Capitol Hill closely, as several amendments have been drafted, which would block or delay the new EPA standards. 

Behind Ohio and Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky and Maryland round out the top five in the NRDC’s “Toxic 20” list of states with the most air pollution from power plants.